Sunday, March 3, 2013

Perspective on Kenya's Election--Narissa Allibhai

Tomorrow
(it’s today there already), Kenya
votes in a general election.It
marks the first such election since that in 2007 which was marred by violence,
and the first since the hopeful passage of a new constitution in 2010.This post comes from Narissa Allibhai, a
Kenyan who is currently a UC Berkeley Mastercard Foundation Scholar in the
Master of Development Practice program.Allibhai previously worked for the Aga Khan Development Network, a giant
in the development world in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia, where she
helped to initiate an East African think-tank that will carry out policy
research in areas such as socio-economic and environmental resilience.

Here,
Allibhai discusses a perspective on the Kenyan elections that readers abroad
are unlikely to get from media.

-----

Yes,
there was widespread ethnic violence after the 2007 elections. Yes, one of the
leading presidential candidates has been indicted by the ICC on charges of
crimes against humanity. Yes, many Kenyans vote absolutely along tribal lines.
Yes, there have been a few minor pockets of conflict in the run-up to this
election. No, this does not mean the massacre of last election is likely
to reoccur in 2013.

Most
international news pieces have, unsurprisingly, focused on the turmoil after
Kenya’s last elections, the tribal divisions that are foreign to much of the
international community, and the potential for violence this time round.

I
will not point fingers at credible news sources, however many have been overemphasizing
certain elements and downplaying others. It is generally known that the media
will write stories and headlines that catch the eye, stir up worry, and
sensationalise. However, this can have the negative effects of drawing excess
attention to these negative aspects and risking self-fulfilling prophecies.

The
peace efforts taking place in Kenya deserve a lot more attention than they have
been getting. Most Kenyans definitely do not want a repeat of last time’s
violence and are doing all they can to encourage peace this time around. There
have been peace rallies, peace concerts, and mass prayers for peace by various
religious groups. Community peace projects are being held in areas with violent
histories, bringing together rival gangs from different ethnic groups. The
PeaceTXT initiative updates communities about peace-building exercises and
sends out violence-prevention messages. The recent film Ni Sisi (It Is
Us) carries the message of personal accountability, learning from past
mistakes, and strength to stand up against violence. The 3D animation Wageuzi
(loosely translated as Transformers) reminds people of the extent politicians
will go to gain power. Graffiti artists spray-painted a train that runs through
key zones (Rift Valley and Kibera) with peace messages and images. Kenya is
plastered with flyers, articles, billboards, editorials, you name it—all
promoting peace. Kenyan social media is filled with facebook posts and Tweets
asking for peace.

On
the state level, various measures have been taken to ensure the election
process itself will be more transparent than before, including fingerprinting
voters, quicker vote counting and live feeds of voter data (to reduce time in
which manipulation could occur). The 2010 constitution established electoral
laws, the judiciary, and resulted in the creation of the Kenya National
Commission of Human Rights, which is enforcing various measures to ensure “free
and fair elections.” The new National Cohesion and Integration Commission
monitors hate speech and promotes peaceful coexistence of communities. The
presidential candidates themselves stressed peace and unity during the two
presidential debates, and they have signed a pledge to keep the peace during
campaigning and after the results are announced. As for security during the
voting, each polling station will have three police officers on duty.

As the voting begins, I am nervous
but hopeful that whatever the outcome of the election, my fellow Kenyans will
lay aside their differences and put amani
(peace) first.

About Me

I am from Northern California, and am the fifth generation of my family to have lived in the Golden State. Now I live next-door in the Silver State, where I work as an assistant professor of history at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I research and write about colonialism and decolonization in Africa, teach European, African, environmental, and colonial history, and write this blog, mostly about politics, sometimes about history, and occasionally about travels or research. This blog also appears on the website of the Redding Record Searchlight.